After a turbulent 2022, Netflix finally seems to have rallied in terms of subscriber additions in the first half of 2023. While the first quarter showed only moderate growth of 1.8 million net paid subscriber additions, a fact attributable to a net decrease in Latin American countries possibly connected to the new paid account sharing model rolled out in five countries in the region, the streaming service added 5.9 million paid subscriptions between March and July.
Paid sharing, a bone of contention in the months leading up to trial runs in selected markets, has seemingly been adopted well, with the additional fees for up to two account users not situated in the account holder’s household now being asked for in more than 100 countries according to company statements.
Although the streaming service didn’t release any concrete figures, the current letter to shareholders mentions a “healthy conversion of borrower households into full paying Netflix memberships”, which partly explains the increases in net paid subscribers in every market. While the Latin American, United States & Canadian and Asia-Pacific markets added between 1.1 and 1.2 million subscribers, the EMEA region was the most significant growth champion with 2.4 million net paid subscriptions added. Overall, Netflix now boasts 238 million subscribers worldwide.
With paid sharing being rolled out in almost every market and all signs pointing to a positive development for the rest of the year, the company is optimistic in its forecast for Q3 2023. Revenue is expected to be up 7 percent year-over-year, while subscriber numbers are expected to increase by roughly the same amount as in Q2 2023. Still, with revenues not hitting analysts’ expectations in the past quarter, Netflix‘s shares lost up to 9 percent in value in after-hours trading yesterday.
